This year I am following a Bible-reading plan that will take me through both the Old and New Testaments.
Day: 85
Text: 1 Samuel 1-3
The Hebrew Bible, which is the basis of our Old Testament reading plan, moves directly from the book of Judges to 1 Samuel. This book begins with another Ephraimite. The man has two wives. Hannah, whom he loves most, has not been able to get pregnant. This is a source of embarrassment and shame in Israelite society, which Hannah's rival reminds her of every chance she gets.
Each year, the family travels to the large, mobile tent in Shiloh where the Lord had ordered the Israelites to present their offerings to him. God had warned the Israelites that infertility would be a consequence of national disobedience. Despite the family's apparent devotion to the Lord, Hannah bears the shame of her people. It is overwhelming, and she breaks down.
Hannah prays to God, telling him that if he gives her a son, she will return him back to the Lord. He will be a Nazirite, never having his hair cut, as a mark of his consecration to the Lord. The high priest Eli sees her praying silently and overwrought, so he thinks she's drunk and making a fool of herself before God. When she explains what is really going on, Eli blesses her and asks God to do for her what she asked.
Fast forward and Hannah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son. She names him Samuel, meaning "asked of God." When it is time for the annual pilgrimage to Shiloh, Hannah stays behind. She tells her husband she will remain with Samuel until he is weaned (somewhere around 3 years old). Hannah also tells him of her vow to dedicate the child to the Lord. Although her husband has the authority to nullify her vow, he confirms it.
When Samuel is weaned, Hannah takes her offering to the tent in Shiloh and presents Samuel to Eli, who spontaneously praises God in response. Hannah praises the Lord too, singing a song many years in the making. She rejoices in God because of what he has done for her. There is none like the Lord, the one who determines and directs everything that happens to us. He reverses fortunes and is sovereign over life and death, poverty and wealth. He watches over his own and judges the wicked. Hannah's song also hints at a coming king.
Eli blesses Hannah again, and the Lord enables her to have more children after Samuel. The boy remains in Shiloh, and she brings him new clothes every year. Contrast Hannah's faithfulness to God with that of Eli's sons. They treat the Lord's offerings with contempt, as though the sacrifices are their personal meat market. They also sleep with the women who serve at the tent of meeting.
Eli challenges his sons, warning them that there is no one to intercede on their behalf if they choose to act so defiantly toward God. Just as God controlled Hannah's ability to conceive and bear children, he also controls these sons' ability to respond with repentance to Eli's message. He does not grant them repentance. They continue to descend into debauchery while the young Samuel grows ascendant.
A prophet comes to Eli to condemn him and his sons for their wickedness. Eli may not have engaged in the same activities as they, but he has grown fat off the offerings they've snatched. His failure to discipline his sons shows that he has honored them before the Lord. Judgment will fall on him and his household. The author of Hebrews tells us that Christians have a better high priest who disciplines us as sons. Discipline may be unpleasant, but it produces a harvest of righteousness (Heb. 12:3-11).
One night, while Samuel lay sleeping in the tabernacle, he hears a voice calling him. Thinking it is Eli, he unintentionally wakes the man up, asking what he wants. Eli sends him back to bed. After about the third time of this, he tells Samuel to respond to the voice. Samuel does, and God confirms the word of the prophet who came to Eli earlier. The Lord gives additional details so Eli will know it when God begins to carry out the sentence.
In the morning, Eli asks Samuel what God had to say to him. Upon hearing the Lord's judgment, Eli passively accepts the Lord's word. He makes no show of repentance, no pleading for his or his sons' lives. A shadow of foreboding is cast upon Eli and his sons while Samuel rises to prominence throughout all Israel.
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